happiness

These 3 people make me so happy. It isn't always easy, but I love that I wake up every day with these three loves of my life.

"Look at me! I wearing glasses!"

the new haircut! All ready for triathlon season

gorgeous Love Bug

love this face

playing "running"

beautiful girl in her smocked dress

The Mayor's class picture...

...love that he is just being himself...thumb in the mouth

the sweetest sound

There is no sweeter sound in the world then hearing my babies laughing. And I am talking about real, guttural, uncontrollable, almost can't catch a breath laughing. D knows just where each tickle spot is too. Love Bug is under the neck right at her collar bone and The Mayor's is on his leg right above his knee. Gets them every time and I could just record that laughter and listen to it over and over and over...

Love Bug's one year pictures became available for viewing online this morning!!! Of course I have looked at the slideshow at least 2 dozen times today. I have no idea how I am going to pick...I love them all. Below is my favorite family picture and my favorite picture of The Mayor with Love Bug...I couldn't pick my favorite picture of just Love Bug because there are literally about 20 that I tagged as my favorite.

These pictures are courtesy of Christina Sallustio...the best photographer in the world!

love...this makes my heart happy

gettin' real southern round here

Yesterday, Love Bug wore her first ever smocked bishop dress. I know, I know, I am breaking several rules by living in the south and not dressing my children in smocked clothing. The Mayor has never worn smocked clothing. He has never worn a Feltman Brothers longall. Even though he had 3 hanging in his closet while he was a baby (all received as gifts), those outfits ended up being sold at consignment with the tags still on. Dressing boys in smocked clothing is just not my thing. Nothing wrong with it...but just not for me. Because I never dressed The Mayor in those clothes, that whole arena of clothing has just been off my radar. Until now.

Mamie bought Love Bug 2 smocked bishop dresses for Christmas and I put her in one yesterday. I even purchased white eyelet diaper covers...one with her monogram on the butt and the other with her name scripted on it. She was precious. Unfortunately, there is no picture evidence of this because she was only wearing the dress for about an hour. I didn't realize how this cold front had dropped the temperature about 30 degrees so we had to change into pants and a long sleeve top. But don't you worry...the temps are going to rise and the dress will be back on.

Today I put her in a smocked top with gingham ruffle pants. She was adorable. Her MeMe bought her this outfit...and I got to tell you...I am digging the smocking. She even had a matching bow to put into her hair. It's only taken me 20 years of living in Georgia to finally get the hang of things. I guess better late than never.

she loves to give kisses now...she is giving her reflection a kiss

she kept the bow in her hair for about 4.2 seconds

the matching bow

the next ansel adams?

It's no secret The Mayor loves cheesing it up for the camera. And he loves "taking pictures" with his pretend camera and his real digital camera that Meega and J got him for Christmas. So today he asked if he could take pictures with our nice camera...and me being a sucker for that sweet boy, said yes. He took pictures of me and D...with very little guidance from us. We told him which button to click and showed him the view finder and how to look for mommy and daddy in the window. Once he took the pictures, he would view the picture on the back of the camera and say "ohhhh, so cute".

The Mayor's picture of D

The Mayor's picture of me

We had an amazing weekend. The weather was GORGEOUS. Spring is finally here. We went on a long walk yesterday...we walked to Target, did some shopping at a tennis store, ate lunch and then walked back. It was a fun 3 hour field trip. After naps, we went to Lowe's to get some flowers for the pots on the porch and then went out for dinner and ice cream. Today was actually hot...almost like a summer day. I had a tennis match and D and the kids stayed home. It was almost too hot to be outside playing. After my match and naps, we went to Mamie and PopPop's house for dinner. Meega, J and Bennett were there and we waited for Aunt Jenny to arrive. She is here visiting this week!

It is hard to believe another weekend has come and gone. This week will be a great week though. The Mayor is back in school, the weather should be amazing and our calendar is chock full of fun activities. Bring on spring!

taco night

It's Friday and it's taco night! Considering D was out of town this week for a conference, this has been an awesome week. Usually I dread when he travels and am worn completely out from pulling single mom duty (and trust me, I am tired) but it was such a great week with just me and the kids. Don't get me wrong, I could not have been happier to hear the garage door opening late Wednesday night when D got home from his trip...but me and the kids are getting the hang of this!

The kids and I just chilled today. We played in the house, ran a few errands, checked out an awesome new park in our county, ate lunch, Love Bug napped and then D came home and we had taco night. You would have thought Love Bug had never eaten before. She could not get that food into her mouth fast enough. And as you can see from the pictures, we are still working on our aim.

This weekend I am sure we will go on some nice walks, go play at this new park and enjoy being together as a family...before D goes back to work on Monday and The Mayor goes back to school. Spring Break is over.

we finally got batteries put into his hardhat...he kept going into the bathroom and turning off the lights so he could see the light flash in the mirror

checking out the reflection of the light in the refrigerator

the dentist

Today we had a huge first around here...The Mayor's first dental appointment. Oh boy, my expectations were low. I mean he's 3 and I just couldn't envision my 3 year old letting a stranger look inside his mouth, scrap his teeth, polish his teeth and whatever the dentist planned on doing. I mean 50% of the time, The Mayor gets upset when the pediatrician wants to look in his throat...and The Mayor is very familiar with the pediatrician.

The waiting area was perfect. Lots of toys and a great cubby area where it was dark and playing "Toy Story 3" on a TV. The hygienist came out and talked with Ryan and made him feel very comfortable. He was so excited to get into the exam room...he literally ran in there. The dentist and hygienist were beyond wonderful. They let The Mayor pick out his toothbrush, the dentist had The Mayor stand by him and let him touch all of the equipment, practiced on his hand so he could feel how gentle everything would be and talked The Mayor through the process. It made The Mayor (and myself) so comfortable. The dentist asked The Mayor to get up on the table and lay down (there was a TV hanging in the ceiling) and this is the only thing The Mayor did not like. So he sat up and let the dentist do the exam. He let the dentist scrap his teeth, polish his teeth, put fluoride on this teeth and floss his teeth. It was amazing! He never cried or fought the dentist. I am so proud of my little guy. We got a great report and go back in 6 months.

The rest of the day was just as great. The kids and I met a friend and went on a 6 mile walk on the greenway (the weather is so gorgeous right now) and had lunch. After the dentist appointment, we came home for naps, played and ate dinner and the kids are sound asleep. D just landed at the airport and should be home in a little over an hour. Today was a great day.

showing The Mayor the equipment

showing The Mayor how gentle the cleaner is on his hand

watching the movie on the TV in the ceiling

such a big boy!

chattanooga

Yesterday we went to Chattanooga to have Love Bug's one year pictures taken. Our fantastic photographer now lives in Knoxville so when our schedules don't line up when she comes to Atlanta, we meet in Chattanooga. The weather could not have been more perfect. Blue skies and sunny. It was a tad bit windy, but she found some great spots where she could take pictures and the wind wasn't an issue.

After the photo session, we enjoyed the awesome weather and fabulous downtown Chattanooga by walking around, eating lunch, treating the kids to ice cream, taking in the sites, walking down by the river and taking The Mayor to see the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any pictures but I don't think I will ever forget the look on The Mayor's face when he saw that big train. He was beyond excited and kept saying "Mom, look! It's a big train". He said this no less than a dozen times and when we bought him a train from the gift shop, he repeated "thank you momma, you got the train" randomly throughout the 2 hour drive home.

It was the perfect spring day. One that I hated to see end. The kids were in a great mood, the weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed just being outside.

And because I don't want to ever forget...a funny potty-training The Mayor story. The Mayor is a master at peeing in the potty. He doesn't have any accidents when it comes to peeing. But pooping...geez...totally another story. I am beginning to wonder if he will ever poop in the potty. He has gotten to the point where he will just hold it until he is in his nighttime diaper and then poop. On Friday, The Mayor apparently needed to poop and couldn't wait until bedtime, so he asked D to change him into a diaper and his PJs (apparently he thinks he can't poop in just the diaper, but the PJs must be on too). So D changed The Mayor, The Mayor immediately went to the corner, pooped and then asked D to change his diaper. About 5 minutes after D changed his diaper, The Mayor came over to D and said "thank you daddy for changing my diaper. Thank you for cleaning my hiney".

Yesterday, after we got home from Chattanooga, The Mayor asked to get into a diaper and his PJs. It was almost bedtime, so I changed him. The second I pulled up his PJ pants, The Mayor walked over to the window, grabbed onto the window sill, and started pooping. The Mayor tooted and said "oops, excuse me" and I asked him if he was done and he said no. Then The Mayor looked at me and said "mom, listen to me. Do NOT eat poopie. Yuck" Let me preface this by saying The Mayor has never once attempted to eat poop. We have never told him do not eat poop. We are just thankful it is a given in our house and our kids know not to eat poop (or play in it either). So I am not sure where this came from...but thanks buddy, I now know not to eat poopie. Yuck.